


Incomplete Serket

by duchessofwraiths, OliviaRose



Series: Housesstuck [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Caliginous Romance | Kismesis, Dubious Consent, F/M, Flushed Romance | Matesprits, Gen, Journalism, M/M, Pale Romance | Moirallegiance, Teacher-Student Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-05
Updated: 2013-07-25
Packaged: 2017-12-10 12:49:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 10
Words: 9,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/786225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/duchessofwraiths/pseuds/duchessofwraiths, https://archiveofourown.org/users/OliviaRose/pseuds/OliviaRose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Dirk, I need a story."<br/>Oh, have we got a story for the editor of the school newspaper. Vriska Serket is involved with a teacher. Before you say scandal, let me elaborate. She wants it over, and he doesn't. What will her kismesis do when she finds out? What can anyone do when the teacher is almost as influential as the Minister of Magic himself?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Why Does Gryffindor Keep Losing Every Match?

**Author's Note:**

> And so it begins.

"Dirk, I need a story. How am I supposed to become editor of the Daily Prophet according to my ten year plan-"

"A rag full of gossip," Dirk said, writing out his essay for Potions. Mindfang was pretty much the easiest teacher in the school, and an essay was honestly three paragraphs no sweat. The only downside was extensive lectures.

"When I have nothing impressive to demonstrate my talent?!" He ignored Dirk's comment. They had had enough arguments over the years about corruption of the media.

"I honestly have no idea."

"You are not being useful." Eridan Ampora complained, flopping back on the couch.

"Do something a reporter does. Interview the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Ask them why they suck so bad. Ask the universe why it keeps fucking expanding, I don't care."

Dirk was referencing Muggle science. Again.

Eridan sat up, adjusting his glasses. "That's it. You're right, Dirk. I will do an investigation!"

There was a pause as Dirk crossed something out vehemently (he took everything way too seriously). "Investigate away. I have Arithmancy charts to analyze."

Eridan rolled his eyes at the "You choose star analysis over me, Dirk? Real friendly guy."

"People are such variables, Eridan. I prefer constants, such as room temperature. 10 degrees Celsius,  I believe, at the moment. Doesn't change."

"Thanks for the conversation."

"Go away now." Dirk returned to his essay, licking his quill to begin a new paragraph. Eridan obliged, taking his notepad with him. He really did need a story, and a scandal could be just the thing he needed.

He had no inclination to read endless history books. The easiest thing to do would be an internet search. Unfortunately, he had no inkling of how Muggle technology worked. The only option was the geek who spent every day in the library tapping out lines of gibberish.  Sollux Captor, a guy with no excuse to be that attractive considering the zilch time he enjoyed with others.

 


	2. Well, shit.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eridan goes to Sollux Captor for help.

"Hey. Geek." Eridan whispered, nudging Captor on the shoulder. Captor had really nice hair. That was not the point of this, however bulge affecting it was.

"Get away from me, Ampora." Ms. Condescension was on the prowl, so Eridan ducked down.

"I need your help."

"And I need a bottle of Felix Felicis for the OWLs, but dreams don't come true."

"I'll pay you."

Sollux raised his eyebrows.

"Please tell me you don't mean sexual favors."

"5 Sickles."

"Ten Sickles."

"Fine, eight Sickles."

"Eight Sickles and you blow my-"

Eridan cut the smirking dual-horned jerk with only slight blushing, fishing out ten silver coins. "I hate you."

"Slow down, Romeo. What do you need me to do?"

"Do a search on the internet. Hogwarts and scandal."

Sollux paused halfway through. "Why are you doing this?"

"Look, I paid you. None of your business."

"Merlin, okay." Sollux's fingers flew across his Muggle contraption. Laptop, right. Eridan wasn't as nervous as he had expected to be around Captor. Captor had the best grades in their year, and it was rumored that he made up the riddles for Ravenclaw Tower. It turned out he was just an angsty teenager like the rest of them.

"It is mainly conspiracy theories about that Chamber of Secrets."

"That closed after the Golden Trio-"

"I know my history. Speaking of which, Professor Signless is on here."

"What, did he mess up a date or something in one of his endless drones?" Eridan could tolerate every class except History of Magic. It was as if the professor thought it was time to break his own record for useless facts NOT TESTED ON ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVELS spewed in the the space of an hour long class. Eridan had him in the MORNING, too, directly following breakfast. He now understood what Muggles meant by hell. Eridan couldn't imagine Signless doing anything like embezzling money.

"Apparently two girls filed reports against him for sexual harassment last year. Wait. It was withdrawn."

"Maybe they meant Professor Handmaid?"

"No. It clearly says Signless. Apparently the girls were later expelled for cheating on their NEWTs. They were liars."

"Damn it." Eridan

"Wait. Shit. The year before that, a Ravenclaw sued Signless..."

"For..."

"Sexual assault." Sollux suddenly went to his history, deleting it.

"What are you doing?"

"They can track our movements. Shit. Shit." Sollux taped out a line of code. "School firewalls should prevent lies like that." he said so loudly that Ms. Condescension came over to swat them with a jinx book that left worms in their hair.

"Eugh. You think it's lies?" Eridan whispered, not eager to get attacked again as he picked worms off his scalp. Eugh, disgusting. He wanted to krill that woman.

"Come with me if you want to discuss it where there aren't ears, though I wouldn't open this can of..." Sollux dangled a worm in front of him before walking out of the library, motioning Eridan to follow him. It was a study period for fifth years and the courtyard was almost empty excepting a couple Gryffindors. Eridan wasn't sure what he was getting himself into, but maybe the bugs in his hair were an omen. This wouldn't end well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please don't hate


	3. And Down Will Come The Blind Chick, Glasses and All

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karkat and Terezi are hanging out in a tree when they see Vriska talking to a teacher.

Karkat scoured the grounds below him, one hand on the branch he was sitting on to keep his balance. Terezi was perched far more precariously than he, but she refused to move from her position several feet above him. She had three crayons in hand, and was drawing three lines every time she put them to paper. When Karkat had gotten her Muggle crayons for Christmas, he had no idea it would go over this well. Terezi now wanted to draw...all the time. Today she wanted to do a landscape of the Hogwarts lawn, but from what Karkat had seen it was a post-apocalyptic version complete with fire raining down. After spending his free period making paper mache Blast-Ended Skrewts with the Leijon girl, who kept enchanting them to speak in tongues, he had found her in the tree yelling down at people to describe themselves and decided to intervene. Here he was now, up in a tree, embarrassing himself. 

"There are mostly Hufflepuffs down there. The lawn is a violent shade of green."

"Who?"

"Do I look like I fucking know all their names? I have never met a Hufflepuff. Hell, I know one Ravenclaw and that's it."

"Well describe them then!"

"A paraplegic with horns like a goalpost. Two hornless, maybe related. One with long black hair, the other is a short boy with glasses. They are playing leapfrog...wow, what the hell?"

"What?"

"Professor Signless is over there talking to Vriska."

"Vriska is talking to a teacher?" Terezi stopped drawing. "Is she failing or something? "

"She looks upset."

"Let's go ask what's wrong. "

"She's your kismesis."

"Doesn't mean I don't care."

"I know, Sticky."

Terezi dismounted, grabbing Karkat for support. He almost toppled over. She landed on top of the goalpost kid, and he collapsed.

"Terezi! You hit someone!" Karkat jumped down, exasperated.

"Thank you Karkat." She snapped, rolling off the kid and patting her glasses to make sure they weren't broken. They were.

"My glasses."

"Oculus reparo." Karkat made to pull out his wand, but Terezi stopped him.

"Hell no. Now I have an excuse to get new glasses."

Karkat removed his hand from his pocket and started walking off. He needed to get to Transfiguration; it was still damned difficult for him to understand despite all the tutoring. It didn’t help that his tutor was

a. insane

b. blind

c. somewhat...attractive?

He shook his head to get rid of the thought.

"Where are you going?" Terezi demanded.

"Class."

"Can't you come see Vriska with me? She likes you!"

"She likes mocking me."

"You're cute when you blush."

Karkat bit the inside of his cheek. "Will you help me with Divination?"

"Of course. You know I love your company. Your ears are red."

"E-excuse me."

Karkat looked at the goalpost kid. "Fuck, a Hufflepuff."

"Let's get out of here."

"My leg might be broken." The kid insisted.

Terezi nodded. "Definite possibility."

“How about we try to fix your leg?”

“I d-don’t, uh, need Skele-Gro the day before Quidditch tryouts.”

Karkat and Terezi stared at him blankly.

“What?”

“How will you  try out for Quidditch with a broken leg?” Karkat said flatly.

“Infirmary?”

“Fine. I’ll take you to the damned infirmary. Terezi, next time let me jump down and then I can catch you so you don’t fall again, you idiot."

“I’m not a damsel in distress.”

Karkat gingerly helped the kid to his feet. “You’re a damsel _of_ distress. Go talk to your sister.”

“Scourge sister.”

“I will hit you one day, mark my words.”

“Muggle.”

“Squib.” Karkat made a slow departure, dragging the kid with his limp twisted leg.

Terezi sighed, walking towards Vriska. Vriska had her hands over her face and was leaning against the wall of the castle. 

"Hey, scourge of my earth." Terezi said it more like a question, unsure what was going on.


	4. Piss Off, M8

Vriska didn't look up. Usually saying something like that would get Terezi a high five or a kick to the shins, but this wasn't regular Vriska. Something was seriously wrong. There was no way in hell Vriska Serket would get that worked up over academics, especially not a class like History of Magic, which she had said countless times was pointless given that knowing the names of a couple thousand dead wizards wasn't going to get her a job in the Department of Mysteries. Honestly, Terezi had no idea what the appeal of the Department of Mysteries was. A job one couldn't discuss with anyone else, where no one ever retired-people just _died_ -didn't sound all that entertaining. Terezi was eager to join the Department of Magical Law Enforcement as an Auror. With luck, she could eventually work her way up to the International Magical Office of Law, but she wasn't sure how that was going to work. Auror was the goal.

"All right, Vris?" Terezi prodded Vriska's head with her wand, deciding to forgo the cane attack in this particular instance. She bent her knees a bit to get to what she hoped was eye level.

"What is it?" Vriska mumbled.

"What the hell is going on?"

"Nothing."

"Don't lie to me, Vriska. I've known you for four years. You never cry in public."

"I never cry." Vriska lifted her head, and sure enough her eyes were dry.

"Could you possibly explain what is going on?"

"I could if I felt like pouring my heart out to a damned Gryffindor." she spat out, digging her claws into the brickwork behind her to pull herself up.

"It's like that, is it?" Terezi smirked despite herself. She was up for a duel if Vriska didn't want to talk. It might help her to get all her anger out, and Terezi was itching for something to do. She still had another free period before lunch.

"Terezi, I am not feeling this shit."

"You never are. That's the point of a kismesis, Vris-it's not for convenience."

"Can you piss off, mate?" The Australian was coming out in full force, and Terezi fought the urge to laugh because as much as she liked pissing Vriska off, this didn't seem like a good time for a fist fight. It would be unfair; Vriska's eyesight was messed up by the tears, and she wasn't as awesome as Terezi.

"I'll _piss off_ as soon as you tell me who I need to hex." Terezi fumbled for her wand before realizing she left it with Karkat. Whatever. She'd meet up with him after this.

"Can we talk later?"

"You don't even sound like yourself."

"I don't care what I sound like, leave me the hell alone!" Vriska pushed her away and started walking. Terezi paused for a second to catch what direction she was headed in.

She would take the shortcut through the greenhouse and make it to the north side well before Vriska got her hands on the door. 

She was going to find out what the fuck was going on with her scourge sister, kismesis, best friend.

 


	5. Vriska Serket, You Slut

_All the boys want it_

_But you blow smoke ring kisses_

_You want a real man._

 

 


	6. The Girl on the Steps

"Explain to me again what happened here." Madame Paint was not amused. Karkat dumped the kid on the bed, and the Hufflepuff rolled over and let out an almost pitiful whine-you know, if Karkat actually had the ability to pity people other than himself, which he didn't. Karkat glanced at the clock on the wall. Five minutes until Divination. If he was late again, he wouldn't be able to maintain the bare Acceptable he was currently at, thanks in no small part to his close proximity to Captor during tests. The Handmaid was damned scary, but she didn't care if you cheated as long as you didn't talk. Lateness, however, was not tolerated.

Four minutes. Karkat snapped back to take a quick assessment of what was going on.

"His leg broke."

"I, uh, was attacked." the boy said.

Okay, fuck no. Terezi had two marks on her record already for vandalism. She didn't need assault as well. What the hell was this kid doing? Didn't he realize it was a goddamned accident?

Karkat's knuckles went white as his grip on the Hufflepuff's arm tightened. "He didn't see who did it."

"Uh, I, did..." The boy's face dropped when he saw Karkat's eyes. "Not. It was a Gryffindor though."

"House conflicts again? Your team did beat out Gryffindor last week. I wouldn't put it past them to seek revenge against the entire Hufflepuff House. I hear that the Gryffindor Captain is a spitfire with a short fuse."

Karkat bristled. "I have to go now, so if you could just hurry up-"

 "Hurry up? I would like to know where you were, and also your House." Karkat wasn't wearing a tie or anything, just robes. 

"Ma'am, I must go to Divination."

"A Ravenclaw or a Gryffindor, then?" The only Houses that took the co-House Divination class anymore were Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, as Hufflepuff House had blown up the entire storage of crystal balls, and Slytherin's Head of House, Mindfang, believed Divination was 'a load of malarky, for two-bit criminals on the jewel ring'. Which didn't even sound like any language Karkat knew, and Karkat knew four.

(Latin, Runes, English, Japanese, and he was starting French. Allons-y.)

"Ravenclaw. My name is...my name is Sollux Captor." The words just tumbled out of Karkat's mouth, and he could tell Goalpost was annoyed at the lie.

"Well, Mr. Captor, I will be keeping close tabs on you. You are free to leave."

"Thank you, ma'am. I'll be very good. I have to run up to the North Tower now."

"No running in the hallways!" Madame Paint rebuked him, and Karkat was rapidly getting pissed.

"I won't run! I will hop! Goodbye!" The door slammed behind him, and Karkat started running.

\--

He was halfway up the stairs to class when he ran into another kid headed in the same direction. 

Kid? No. This was a damned woman, and she raised her eyebrows when he paused to take in her attire. The blonde was wearing a Ravenclaw tie, alright, but it very clearly had Sollux's obnoxious initials written across it. Her headband was askew, and she wasn't wearing robes; instead, she had a black pantsuit on. 

Why the hell did she have Sollux's tie?

"Do you know Sollux Captor?" The girl asked, leaning against the banister. She was attempting to look cool, but she was almost out of breath. She was thin but not skinny like Terezi, whose bones stuck out like they were straining towards the sun. She wasn't angular. 

"How do you know that?"

"You're staring at the tie, not my chest."

 _"Oui, je le connais. Pourquoi as-tu sa cravate?"_  

"French?" The girl smirked. 

"Yes." Karkat nodded, annoyed that he had slipped into another language. He only did it when nervous, like when confronted by someone who was obviously banging his best friend.

"Are you asking me about his tie?"

"Yes."

"I borrowed it."

"Oh, okay." She must be in his House or dorm or something-did Ravenclaws have co-ed dorms? Only she was saying something else.

"After we had sex in a closet."

"W-what?"

"Intercourse."

"I know what sex is." Karkat snapped. "Why the fuck would Sollux have sex with you when he pities Aradia?"

"He pities her." The girl winked, running her hands down the tie.

It took Karkat all of two seconds. "Blackrom. You hate him."

"Bingo. With that, I must take my leave." She continued up the stairs.

"Hey, do you know Dave Strider?" Karkat hastily called after her, not bothering to run. They were already late, and she would realize it soon enough. Plus without a robe, she wouldn't be allowed to participate. The Handmaid was particular about that.

She paused, turning to look down at him. He was lying on one of the steps now, hoping to Merlin it wasn't a trick one.

"David Strider of Gryffindor House?"

"Yes, he is a Chaser for my team. The team." And also Karkat's other best friend.

"Why do you ask?"

"I recognize the headband. That you're wearing."

"Perhaps he has a match."

"No, that exact one. It fell out of his bag once during practice. Are you his girlfriend?" Dave would not take kindly to his girlfriend having another quadrant filled, since as a human he perceived the quadrants as an excuse for infidelity.

The girl laughed, but she didn't look happy. She kept climbing steps, and her response traveled down in a whisper.

"Dave Strider is my brother."


	7. Vriska, Vriska, Tie and Twist Her

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vriska, Vriska, tie and twist her, tie and twist her up in knots

"Vriska!" Terezi caught up to her, and Vriska remained perfectly still. If she didn't breathe too much, eventually Terezi would figure she was talking to thin air and go away. She was lucky Karkat wasn't with her.

"Vriska, I know you're there."  _No you don't,_ Vriska prayed.

"Vriska, I'll hex you."

"You can't aim for shit." Vriska retorted, and then silently cursed. 

"There you are. What's the matter with you today?"

"Don't you have Divination?"

"I dropped it after the professor told me I would find true love seared onto my skin."

"What?"

"I know. Exactly. Please explain to me why you were crying earlier."

"I wasn't crying."

"I'm sorry. I mean...what is the problem?"

"You're the problem, Terezi." Vriska started walking.

"Why won't you talk to me? I'm your best friend!"

"You can't be my best friend and my kismesis at the same time! Either you hate me or you don't! And right now, I'm getting the feeling you want our relationship to end, so why don't you ponder that for a while and good-fucking-bye!"

Terezi didn't move from where Vriska had been, just slid her cane out in front of her a little to test if Vriska was there. When she realized she wasn't, Terezi walked off in the other direction.

Vriska exited the alcove where she had been pressed against a wall, and immediately she bumped into him.

\---

"Miss Serket, it's been quite a while, hasn't it? I do believe I haven't quite seen you since-"

"No. I just saw you ten minutes ago. Are you following me?"

"Why would I follow one of my students?" asked the professor, shifting his stack of papers to the other arm. 

"I don't know, maybe so you could watch my ass?" Vriska snapped back, digging her claws into her palms.

"If I were you I wouldn't be speaking to a teacher in that...provocative manner. Any bystander-" He stayed several feet away from her, so as not to arouse suspicion. It was, after all, fifth period. 

"If I were you, I wouldn't be doing this in public."

"I merely wanted to inquire after the source of your paper that you handed in to me last week. I quite enjoyed the piece and would much like to read the work you plagiarized it from. Of course, I won't bring this to the attention of any of the administration because I don't want your sparkling record-" voice soaked with sarcasm, _saturated_ , "-besmirched by a single instance of poor judgment-"

"The source?" Vriska hissed, drawing back to the wall. Her palms were bleeding, dripping dark blue down to the floor. She couldn't see his face much in the shadow of the alcove. He spared barely a glance at the growing puddle with slight revulsion before turning back to her. His blood was red like the humans, and hers never looked real to him. Not when it spilled, not when it bubbled up over a new cut. He said it was like a game, watching her skin weep a cerulean river. 

_Not the only game he played._

"It was seminal, a masterpiece. Surely you didn't write it."

That stung her, and she let him know. "I wrote that. You were there when I wrote that. You were leaning over my shoulder, watching me write like the _little creep_ -"

He was closer than before, and no one was in the hall. She could see the arch next to her leading out into the courtyard, but there was no way she could make it without him catching her. He didn't usually catch her in t he middle of the day like this. If it was anyone else, she would call it careless, but he always had a plan. 

"Little? I do believe I am several inches taller than you. I wouldn't finish that sentence if I were you. The implications could be quite vulgar and disgusting, and in fact it might offend quite the amount of onlookers, or observers, as you might prefer to say, because it seems that you are implying that I was in fact behaving towards one of my students, who happens to be a minor, in a manner that is most definitely-"

"You aren't me."

"I pity the boys, really. How must it be to let a girl like you go?"

"Keep doing that and someone will see." The skin on her palms was torn and bleeding.

"We both know you would never let that happen." he whispered. "You would die before you let someone discover that you are as much a slut as they come."

"I have class."

"As do I. In fact," and he straightened up. "I am starting the unit on the magical participation in the Second World War, as we had to halt the procession of the German Nazis before the entirety of Europe was overtaken by those men and women who for some reason possessed quite large egos with this whole idea of Aryan superiority, when really human race at all is an illusion, and it must have been quite interesting to watch them realize they were not as safe in their opinions as they would hope-" He returned to his previous distance from her, and she could see he was winding up for another lecture, and she was far from in the mood to take it. Not with everyone else crawling up her ass trying to figure out what was wrong.

"Good _day_ , Professor." she spat, and darted for the arch. She would end it tonight, she had to, but she didn't know how to say it. She burst into the courtyard, much emptier than usual as it was nearly the end of the period and lunch was next. A bird chirped at her and she swiped at it, dark blue drops arcing through the air. She remembered to flick her wand at her palms, ignoring the burn as the skin reknit itself together. It was a shame it didn't work on bruises. She mgiht have to look up a spell soon for that.

"Miss Serket, you mustn't run in the halls!" he called after her. A ghost floating by chuckled, and Vriska made sure to swerve and smash through the Victorian-era aristocrat, and he momentarily dissipated before reforming with a burst of ancient curses on her house.

Like Slytherin needed more of that shit.


	8. The Blind Follow The Blind

"I will need some help with this, if I am going to write an expose, with ethics and laws of consent." Eridan hoped he was being subtle with his ulterior motives in consulting Captor again. After all, a guy like Sollux Captor could offer him all _kinds_ of help.

Sollux did not care. He pointed a lazy claw at a girl and boy over at the Gryffindor table, with aforementioned girl dropping berries in his hair. The boy retaliated with a cup of either pumpkin or orange juice tipped over her head. She shoved her wet hair out of her face with badly feigned anger. The boy was beaming, even laughing a little bit as he told her something that caused her to drop the act and cackle wildly, waving a wand to use Scourgify on herself. He couldn’t hear her cast it, but the bubbles were definitely familiar (Dirk was a slob).

"She knows the law. She wants to be an Auror."

Eridan appraised them skeptically. "They aren’t Ravenclaws.”

“The teachers are having a conference right now, so you can go talk to them. Only one on duty is Professor Disciple and she’s busy drawing.” Eridan observed this to be true, the four foot five professor scribbling on the Professor’s table all by  herself.

He looked back to the kids his age. “Cute couple. Who are they?"

"Not a couple yet. He is an emotional wreck, but sooner or later he has to get his act together, the little shit. Karkat and Terezi are on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. She plays Seeker and he is Keeper. He happens to be the captain as well." The Ravenclaw spoke of the two so fondly Eridan got a weird inkling.

"Are you waxing pale for one of them or something?"

"Both." Sollux said mournfully, watching their every move. The dynamic had completely changed while Eridan had turned away. The girl Terezi was receiving a tongue lashing from the guy now, and she shoved him off the bench. He tumbled to the floor and began shouting. It was not very coherent. She dropped to the floor next to him and began feeling around for something.

Both of those headcases? "You wax pale for that guy?"

"I think the feeling is mutual."

"And his matesprit?"

"She wants me too."

"That is quite the conundrum." Sollux Captor had more quadrant prospects than he did at the moment. Great...

Eridan wanted to stop discussing quadrants and get to investigating, so he moved towards the arguing couple. He spotted a wand on the floor and collected it before he spoke. It was longer than his, and the bark had been peeled off this one in several spots, revealing white. The letters TP were etched on one end.

"Hello." Eridan introduced himself to Terezi, as she was his target. She rose onto her tiptoes and spun in a circle.

"Who said that?"

"Me. Eridan Ampora, Ravenclaw. I’m Sollux’s...friend. Is this yours?" Eridan volunteered, ducking the white cane that came swinging at him. The boy Karkat's face was taut in poorly veiled concern as he guided Terezi to where Eridan was. He accepted the wand for her, stowing it in his robes.

"Is she blind?" he asked Karkat in a loud whisper.

"Not deaf," Terezi chirped cheerfully.

"Your Seeker is blind. It’s no wonder your team sucks."

Eridan had said it without thinking about tact. This was exactly why he needed someone on his investigating team who wasn’t Dirk. Not that Strider had even volunteered, muttering something about meetig up with his stepsister Foxy or something, as if family reunions in the trophy room were essential when Eridan knew perfectly well Dirk didn't care about anything other than technology and maybe Charms.

"Was that an insult?" Vantas demanded, a protective hand on Terezi's shoulder. Gag, they had to be dating or moirails themselves, it was reminiscent of that douche in his dorm who followed that one Gryffindor with the cat ears hex that hadn’t worn off yet. (The douche was always getting overprotective of her, and it was like, man, she’s not even Slytherin, shut up about her games.)

Eridan swiftly recalled who was team captain and closed his eyes in sheer disbelief at his idiocy, which only served to piss off Karkat further.

"It was a wake up call." Eridan needed a tact boosting smoothie.

Karkat bristled, but Terezi tapped him on the stomach. "Calm, Karkat."

Now Eridan was infinitely more baffled. The two of them were pale, then. Why the fight, then? How did Sollux factor into this equation?

"How do you know Sollux?" Eridan wondered out loud.

"He comes from my neighborhood. Karkat, me and him love each other intensely."

Karkat shrugged at that. Eridan winced at the grammatical faux pas, and Karkat noticed. He glanced at Eridan's tie.

"Is this a social call, Ravenclaw?"

"No. Business. I need you to help me with an article."

"Subject?" Terezi asked, suddenly serious.

"Sexual abuse."

"Wow." Terezi grinned. "Having fantasies? It isn't my specialty,  sorry."

"Law is."

"You should know that sexual abuse is illegal."

"The ethics of teacher student relationships."

Her eyebrows drew together. Her forehead was wrinkling. "Where?"

"Here."

"What do you think you know?" Terezi grabbed his collar.

"It should be out in the open." Eridan choked out.

She let go, and Eridan could breathe again. He stumbled backwards, rethinking his idea just as Terezi nodded grimly. “You have to tell me more. Karkat?"

Karkat had gone green when sexual abuse was mentioned and he looked like he wanted to abscond very badly.

"I have shit to do. Sollux!" Karkat took off running towards a very shocked Captor, who sidestepped Karkat before grabbing him by the collar and whispering something into his ear that apparently was sufficiently calming.

"Karkat doesn't like talking about anything south of his mouth." Terezi explained, looking a little discomfited by his departure.

"Understandable. Does he always yell like that?"

"Since I met him. Coping mechanism." He could tell she wanted to change the subject. They were an odd pair, these two. "So is it true that Sollux and Aradia are finally together?"

"Don't think so." Who was Aradia?

"Pity." Terezi tapped her eyes before laughing at her own pun, red globes Eridan avoided looking directly at. There was definitely a spell to fix that, honestly. Staying blind was pure lethargy. "What is your first move?"

Eridan checked his notebook. "Signless.  He seems to have gotten off scot free on a number of cases because the kids retract their testimony after the fact. Very...” Lucrative. Was fame-making a word? “...suspicious."

There was a pause as she took that in. "How surprising." She didn’t seem shocked at all. Just scared. “I have to go.”

“Wait.” Eridan stopped her. “Are you going to help me?”

"Do you get off on messing with lives, Mr. Columnist?"

"What do you mean?" He put his quill to paper, ready to quote.

“I would stay out of this if I were you, Eridan Ampora. Nothing but trouble, and we don’t want to be ruining any squeaky clean records.” She went after Karkat, the fastest 'casual stroll' he had ever seen, screaming after him.

"KARKAT COME BACK! WE NEVER FINISHED OUR FIGHT AND NOW I DEFINITELY FEEL LIKE YELLING!"


	9. Hogsmeade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Again? Someone isn't sick of thirdwheeling yet?"  
> "Terezi never feels like a third wheel." Karkat said in surprise.  
> \--  
> "Karkat tells me you have a sister black with Sollux."  
> \--  
> "Pseudo incest Dave? I didn't figure you for the type?"  
> \--  
> "The bail is set at five thousand Galleons."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kept procrastinating this, man.

The weekend directly following was a Hogsmeade weekend. Three students of two Houses had a standing appointment to spend their Saturdays together in the nearby town, and today was proceeding as usual in the corridor leading to the southern exit. Students gathered there, waiting for Slick to finish checking everyone over before they could escape onto the long winding road to ‘jolly good fun with friends’ as the brochure for Hogsmeade outings proclaimed. All Houses were duly represented, and a pair with one navy and one maroon tie was having an uncharacteristically hushed conversation over in one corner as they waited for a friend. Sollux and Karkat were earnestly discussing the possibility that the librarian’s mop of unruly hair was a wig when the headmaster’s voice boomed through the hall. Karkat ducked in a futile attempt to avoid having his ears blasted, and Sollux straightened up.

“Fraternization between members of different Houses in the Great Hall is prohibited.”

Sollux rolled his eyes. “We know this already, what the hell did someone do?”

Karkat pushed a stray curl out of his eyes. “This fucking school.”

“Shut up, the announcement isn’t over!” Sollux nudged him as it continued, and Terezi walked up. She shushed them both when they tried to do so to her, and all three listened in utter silence.

“Due to extenuating circumstances, fraternization in adjoining corridors is also forbidden until further notice. Enjoy the Hogsmeade weekend, and all first years are required to take a seminar in the North Tower commencing immediately.”

“What the fuck-” Karkat started to say, but Terezi shoved him away from Sollux, noting that some teachers were already starting to enforce the new rule. Slick was the worst of them, and some kids looked like they had concussions.

“We’ll meet you in Honeydukes!” Terezi insisted, waving to him as she dragged Karkat by the wrist to shove to the front of the line. The one benefit of being on the Gryffindor Quidditch team was that for some reason, Slick had an affinity with athletics and let you go by before everyone else. Not that this made any friends, but apparently the school no longer gave two shits about forming social bonds.

\--

“Where is he?”

“Maybe he got held up because he doesn’t have permission.”

“The Head of his House waived that ages ago, Terezi, get your facts straight.” Karkat shaded his eyes as he scanned the store. Nothing. Nothing but candy and kids.

“I’m going to go get sugar quills for us. Anything else?”

“Let me fucking think, Terezi. Sugar quills and-”

“Cockroach clusters for the Slytherin team?” Terezi cackled, and Karkat hit her lightly.

“Don’t fucking scream it, and I don’t know how you read my mind.”

“I practice Legilimency when it’s dark.”

Karkat accepted that for a second, and then bit down on his tongue. “It’s always dark for you!”

“I’m always practicing!” Terezi danced out of reach and headed for the Supplies section to get the quills.

Karkat recognized the kid moving past him to access the Chocolate Frogs. His other best friend. Shades, blond hair, no horns, mouth curling up into a smirk so Karkat knew he was seen. His star Chaser.

“Strider.” Karkat adopted a mock angry tone, which Dave knew well enough to distinguish from the regular angry tone; although he frankly didn’t give a shit which was which, either way involved yelling sooner or later.

“Hey Karkat. Give me one.” Dave gestured at one of the Frogs Karkat had already purchased, and Karkat threw it to him. Dave snatched it out of the air, and Karkat followed suit with unwrapping one of the remaining chocolates. He crammed it into his mouth, scowling at the card accompanying it. Like he needed one more Ginny Weasley. There must be a surplus or something, because-

“Freaking Ginevra Weasley, that bitch is everywhere.” Dave said from his vantage point as he tossed his card away, scanning the shelves. “I’m never going to get over this place.”

“It’s amazing.” Karkat said softly.

“You by yourself today, Vantas? Terezi’s got to be here with you. You never walk so much as a step out of her…earshot.” Dave trailed off, annoyed with himself for having roped himself into the slippery slope of blind jokes.

“She went to get sabotage for Slytherin. We’re waiting for Sollux.” Karkat explained the long standing plans they had and Dave laughed.

“Again? Someone isn’t sick of thirdwheeling yet?”

“Terezi never feels like a third wheel.” Karkat said in surprise, wiping the side of his mouth.

“No, I meant-” Dave wondered briefly if Karkat was gay, then dismissed the idea. Not with the way he watched Terezi’s ass walking onto the Quidditch field and then blushed far too red when Dave made a crack. It must be those damned trollmance things.

“What’s the matter, Dave? Acid Pop got your tongue?” Terezi’s shrieking voice seared through his ears and he revolved to face her.

“Speak of the devil and she doth appear, Pyrope. Karkat was telling me about this three way you’re having at the Three Broomsticks. Appropriate.”

Karkat scoffed and turned red, while Terezi pushed her new pair of red lensed glasses up her nose. _Look, they match._

“Do you want to come along?” she inquired, raising her eyebrows so he could see them.

“Yeah, sure. Love that alien dick.” Dave elbowed Karkat, who muttered unmentionable things about what Dave could do with _his_ alien dick.

\--

“I do not understand why we are here, Nepeta.”

“We are here to check out jokes because you don’t laugh enough!”

“You make me laugh.”

“Yes, but you can’t just come to me every time you want to cheer up! Sometimes I have to spend time with my other friends or they feel neglected!” Nepeta was in a jittery mood, her ears having finally returned to human state. Zonko’s cut an impressive figure, and so did her moirail.

Especially when he was clad in as little as he had on today, it being a balmy seventy degrees out. Equius Zahhak spent much of his free time working on robots, and therefore was accustomed to feeling free in nothing but a pair of shorts. He had discarded his shirt the moment they exited school grounds and were no longer subject to the choking rules laid down by the administration, and Nepeta was getting a little irritated by the glances people kept giving him.

“Equius doesn’t roll your way unless you’re me or a tree.” Nepeta had told off one girl back in the Hog’s Head, whose brow had wrinkled in confusion as she attempted to make out what exactly this meant. Nepeta didn’t know; it had just tumbled out.

Equius was of course oblivious to all this. He was moe interested in what exactly the purpose of a Tongue Twisting Taffy was, as Nepeta found out when he asked her.

“It’s exactly what it says it is.”

“Why would one want to twist their own tongue? It inhibits speech, does it not?”

“Equius!” Nepeta knew from the light dancing in his eyes behind the outwardly innocent demeanor that he was simply messing with her, and she had taken the bait.

But he didn’t react to her outburst. He turned as a shout came from outside, and red light flashed through the windows.

\--

When Sollux finally arrived, the four traipsed into the Three Broomsticks laughing heavily about having just seen some ridiculous display from a Slytherin a year above them as he was violently rejected by a seadweller in his own House.

Dave was surprised to see his older brother Dirk chilling with Eridan Ampora at the table nearest the door. Not so much that they were together, because Eridan was among Dirk’s only “acceptable social links”, but that they were in Hogsmeade at all. He suspected Eridan was behind the outing.

Dirk nodded at Dave when they entered, sipping a firewhiskey like it was seltzer.

“Dave.”

“Bro. What are you up to?”

“Scoping out chicks.” Terezi grinned with her knifelike teeth, Karkat laughed, and Eridan next to the Ravenclaw coughed out _“more like dicks”_.

“Whatever’s on the menu.” Dirk said coolly and the kids sat at the next table. Karkat and Sollux took a side, Dave and Terezi accepting the booth left. Karkat and Sollux struck up a debate that was apparently a long running one, about whether a dragon or an ogre would win in a fight and how that affected legalization of dragons in Britain as pets (it didn’t, Sollux argued, and Karkat loved to oppose that with his extensive repertoire of no fucking evidence whatsoever).

Terezi cast around for a topic and settled on Rose, Karkat having briefed her on the interesting secret beforehand during a hair braiding session (this was why Karkat had knots, and why Terezi had gum in her hair-he wasn’t very mature). “Karkat tells me you have a sister black with Sollux.”

Dave froze at _sister_ and unfroze at _Sollux_. “Sollux Captor across from me Sollux Captor?”

“The very one. The question is why don’t I know her?”

“She’s in Ravenclaw.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about her? I love your brother!”

“She is my stepsister.” Dave didn’t realize he’d put emphasis on _step_ until Terezi leaned forward, teeth bared in another grin.

“Pseudo incest, Dave? I didn’t figure you for the type.”

“What makes you think she’s black with-?”

At that moment, the debate across from them had escalated into table slamming. The bartender gave them a warning look.

“Tame the beast, Sollux.” Dave said lazily. Sollux shoosh papped Karkat. Dave looked away from it, knowing he was once again intruding on a weird mating ritual. Terezi’s eyes flashed with something like jealousy, but of _who_ Dave found he was uncertain. He didn’t choose to dwell on it, choosing instead to confront Sollux about this alleged kismessitude once the fight was over and Sollux was back to hiding behind his dichotomous glasses.

Meanwhile Karkat and Terezi started kicking each other under the table, giggling, and Eridan stopped by with Dirk to say hi.

“Stay away from Rose.” Dave eyeballed him across the table, and Sollux crossed his arms across his chest.

“Who the fuck are you to say so?”

“Her _brother_!” Sometimes Dave forgot to say step, like when people were fucking around with her and it wasn’t (envy?) fueling him but sheer platonic protective brotherly rage.

“I’m not with Rose.” Sollux retorted, and Dave adjusted his sunglasses to make sure he hadn’t lost his cool.

“Good.”

Eridan looked like he was working up to say something to Sollux when voices rang out and red lights speared through the windows.

 _“Incendio!”_ That voice was young and female, but the other two were much more official-sounding.

 _“Stupefy!_ You are under arrest by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement! Your rights to a guardian present during interrogation have been waived due to extenuating circumstance! _”_

Karkat jolted as he recognized those last two words, having heard them earlier that day. The sugar quill in his pocket was crushed into bits.

_“Aguamenti!”_

\--

“What is that?” Nepeta whispered to Equius.

“Stay here.”

“Like hell I am!”

She followed him out to run into a Slytherin he apparently knew.

“Serket, do you know what is happening?”

“An arrest is happening!” Serket winked her only eye, and Nepeta shivered.

\--

Terezi tackled Dave to the ground and Dave grabbed hold of Dirk, who took Eridan. Karkat went flat on his seat.

They waited.

“Terezi? You okay?” Karkat hissed out when no more noise sounded. The aftershocks of the red light still flickered through the dark bar.

“We’re all fine.” Dirk grumbled.

“Sol-” Eridan stood because Sollux had dashed out at the sound of a certain Slytherin using the first spell. He followed.

“Stay in here.”

“I’m not staying-” Terezi began. Karkat grabbed her and stared into her blank unseeing eyes.

“No.”

“Karkat, Sollux is out there!”

“Terezi, sit the fuck down. Get her another butterbeer.” Karkat yelled at the waitress. She was shaking as she walked off on impossibly high heels to fulfill the request. “Everyone stay inside.” Terezi nodded slowly and sank into a chair. Everyone else sat down, but Karkat slid in next to her. She leaned on him.

Dave found himself gripping Dirk’s arm very tightly. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

“No, I don’t know why I freaked out. It’s just a-”

Dirk dragged him to his feet and hugged him. “This is a bro hug, and as such you do not need to feel coddled.” he uttered robotically, but Dave stayed still, refusing to hug him back as a manner of pride. He had lost his cool twice in the same five minutes, and he wasn’t doing it again in front of so many people.

“Are you really fine?” Karkat asked. She was shaking.

“Not really.”

“I won’t let them hurt you.”

“It’s police, Karkat!”

“I mean the criminals!”

“Thanks, but that was clearly a student and _you aren’t my lusus_.” Terezi bristled.

The butterbeer arrived just as Terezi was running out the door. Karkat knocked it off the table, and when the woman sent a rag over there to mop up the broken glass and wasted deliciousness, he stood up.

“I’m going to go bash my head against the fucking sink in the bathroom.”

No one responded.

\--

“Sollux!” she called out, and he nearly split his lip open running towards her.

“What the fuck is going on-what the _fuck_ is going on- _what_ the fuck-” Sollux knew he was repeating himself, but he couldn’t help it as he tried to push past the officers to get to the two restraining his friend.

“I need you to raise money for the cause!” The girl yelled out, still struggling a little bit. Her curled horns were getting caught in the robes of those holding her back. “Consider me a martyr!”

“A martyr-they’re only taking you to the Ministry! You’re only taking her to the Ministry?” Sollux demanded of the nearest wizard, whose face remained impassive. Sollux pulled back his fist to hit him.

“Sollux! You’ll get yourself arrested!”

“What do you think is happening to you right now?” Sollux didn’t care, he didn’t give a damn, this was not happening to her. “Let go of her!”

“The bail is set at five thousand Galleons.” A witch read off the warrant in her hand-oh shit, they had a warrant. What had she _done?_

“Bail. What do you mean, bail? She’s going to the Ministry, isn’t she? Answer me!” Sollux pulled out his wand and pointed it with shaking fingers at her.

“Following a swift interrogation-”

“Interrogation? She’s not seventeen! You can’t waive her rights as a minor, that doesn’t make any sense! What did you do?” Sollux directed his last question at the culprit, who avoided his eyes.

“Pulling a wand on a Ministry wizard, are we?” The witch asked calmly. Lessons engraved in Sollux’s mind had him stowing the wand hastily in his jeans.

Eridan Ampora was suddenly on the scene, having run out behind him.

“Are you okay?” A hand was on his shoulder, and Sollux shoved it off him as he spat yellow liquid onto the ground. The group of witches and wizards were moving now.

“Get away from me! ARADIA!”

It was no use. She was gone.

\--

Sollux was shaking when Terezi came up.

“Sollux?”

“Terezi.”

“You don’t have to tell me what happened.” Terezi said softly, but Sollux turned around and ran into her and she almost fell down.

“I want to tell you. I want to tell you everything.”

“Do you mean…”

“Yes, TZ. I’m pale for you, is that so much to say?”

Terezi started laughing hysterically.

“Are you laughing at me?”

“No. It’s just…humans buy each other diamond rings, and I was wondering where I’m supposed to buy you a ring.”

Sollux started laughing too, but his laughs dissolved into tears.

“Thank you.” He mumbled into her shoulder, taller than her, but bending his knees, and she stroked his back lightly as Eridan came stumbling back into the bar and Karkat wrangled a firewhiskey out of the bartender to give to him since he looked crushed. Karkat proceeded to tell ridiculous stories to pass the time until the day was gone, not letting himself wonder about where Sollux and Terezi were because right now cheering up Eridan and the others was most important.


	10. There Is No Reason To Call Him Carlisle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Terezi discovers how much Vriska's got up her sleeve...and her shirt.  
> Eridan discovers he is really bad at names.

Karkat was laughing harder than ever at the ridiculous slapfight he had just observed. Terezi and he had just run into Vriska in an empty Charms classroom. They had been looking for a place to act out some stupid play Terezi had composed about dragons. She was obsessed, and Karkat liked when she was happy. She had a cat ate the canary look every time he surprised her, and he had the best surprise back in his dormitory. She had been writing to the Ministry about it for ages, and he had simply won it in a rune etching contest.

“You aren’t doing this correctly. You act like best friends.” He never got uncomfortable around the Scourge Sisters, because they never got explicit. All the two ever did was exchange a couple rounds and then settle down for hot chocolate or Acid Pops (sadomasochism, he called it. She called it delicious).

“You wouldn’t understand.” Terezi replied cheerfully, while Vriska had a snarkier comeback.

“Can you even hate anyone but yourself?”

“Don’t speak to Karkat like that.” Terezi jumped to his defense as always, ready for a trial. She thought he was fragile because he was a Muggle born.

Vriska whistled. Terezi elbowed her, and Vriska stumbled. She let out a little breath before plastering a smile back on her face. Both Terezi and Karkat took notice.

“What was that? Are you hurt?” Karkat interjected.

“No. I’m fine.”

“What is it?” She was close enough to do it so...Terezi grabbed the hem of Vriska’s shirt and pulled it up, ripping it off. Karkat immediately clapped his hands over his eyes. Vriska’s chest was bare and the grey skin was mottled with bruises. Terezi nudged Karkat.

“Tell me what you see.”

“Darkness.” Karkat’s voice was muffled by his hands. “Why are you doing this to her?”

Vriska was openly crying now, covering herself with her hands. Terezi had never heard her cry before and it was making her furious.

“Go away.” came Serket’s voice, laced with humiliation. Terezi shoved Karkat and he finally looked at her. His eyes filled with pity.

"Tell me what you see."

"Don't you dare, Vantas." There was hardly any venom in Vriska's words.

“I see bruises...c-covering her...chest...a-all over...her...” he stuttered.

“Rumble spheres, Karkat. Okay?!” Vriska exclaimed through her tears. Karkat nodded slowly.

"Who hit you?” Terezi asked, dangerously quiet.

“No one.”

"It sure as hell wasn’t me.”

“Please...put your shirt back on.” Karkat had his eyes burning into Vriska’s forehead, determinedly avoiding looking at her bare chest.

“I wasn’t the one who ripped it off!”

Terezi was all kinds of fury. This was her friend, her...kismesis? How was she supposed to hate this girl all broken and helpless on the floor? How could anyone feel anything but pity?

“Why didn’t you heal them?” Karkat had his eyes closed again, and he was timidly patting one of Vriska’s shoulders, which he had examined beforehand very quickly to make sure he wouldn’t be aggravating a wound.

“Why didn’t you go to the infirmary?” Terezi couldn’t stop from yelling. Karkat hushed her.  
“Obviously she doesn’t want it getting out.” he whispered.

“What is it?”

“Another student?” Karkat suggested. Vriska shook her head.

“A teacher?” Terezi asked.

Silence.

“Not the administration.” Terezi pleaded. Terezi believed in the law. Teachers in this school were the law. The law did not go against-the law! That was not how life was conducted in civilized society. Her head was beginning to hurt, and she couldn’t blame it on forgoing breakfast, as she’d been ditching breakfast in the Great Hall since the beginning of Gryffindor’s worst losing season yet.

“Vriska,” Karkat spoke softly. “Would it be okay if we took you to the Gryffindor common room?”

“She’ll get in trouble.”

“More trouble than she is in now?” Karkat demanded.

“We’ll take her to the library.”

“Condescension.” Karkat reminded her, voice dripping with just that.

“Bathroom?”

“Also segregated by House.”

Terezi frowned. “Starting to understand what Sollux’s girlfriend is always ranting about.”

“I heard she was arrested.” Vriska said quietly.

“That’s not important right now. What is important is that we are sneaking into Ravenclaw Tower with Sollux’s help.” Karkat affirmed, handing Vriska back her shirt. “We will continue this talk there.”

“Surely you didn’t mean the administration.” Terezi added.

“Not Captor.” Vriska whined.

“Let me just...” Karkat ran out into the hallway. He hazarded a glance back at the two girls on the floor. Terezi was sliding the cotton fabric over her friend's narrow shoulders for her. She was a good person, Terezi. One day some guy was going to rock her world, and Karkat kept his fingers crossed he’d be dead by then. “Wait there. I’ll get Sollux.”

He ran up the stairs until he reached the empty Great Hall. There were no teachers around, so he sat down at the Ravenclaw table next to Sollux. Sollux was frantically searching something on his Muggle laptop.

“We need your help.”

“Tho doeth Aradia, and it’s a bigger deal.” Sollux was slipping back into his childhood lisp. He must be stressed.

“You don’t know what Terezi and I just happened upon.”

“True love? Unimportant. Aradia has been arrethted for trethpathing and athault of a polithe offiher, in addition to three of her friendth.”

“Whoa.” Karkat shifted to a more comfortable position. “I’m sorry about your matesprit.”

“The ithn’t my-look, I can’t deal with whatever the fuck you two have cooked up right now.”

"It involves Vriska Serket."

Sollux stopped typing. "The Thlytherin?"

"Sollux. She is beat up badly." Karkat was beginning to freak out. He was hyperventilating. Vriska was hurt, so hurt, someone had punched her in a place that should only ever be touched with love more than once...Sollux looked over, saw tears brimming in his eyes and closed the laptop halfway.

"Calm down, KK. It'th going to be okay. If I wathn't busy, I would help."

"We need Ravenclaw Tower!"

"Get Eridan."

"Ampora with the sexual obsession?"

"What?! No, he can help you. Pleahe. Thith is important." Sollux shooshed him when Karkat tried to say something more.

"Where is Ampora?"

"Library. "

"Everyone is always in the library. Don't you Ravenclaws have lives?!" Karkat stormed off.

...

"Eridan. Ampora. I need you."

"It's a little public, but I'm down for a romp." Eridan retorted automatically. He glanced up from his Transfiguration homework (shit, it was hard) to see the short virgin from lunch. The Vantas kid.

"You know a girl named Serket?"

"Should I?"

"Your article was about teacher student abuse." Carlisle pulled Eridan's chair out.

"Carlisle-you mean...this girl..."

"Who the fuck is Carlisle?" Carlisle shoved him.

"You."

"Karkat, and you have to follow me. Wait, what the fuck? I just saw you in the Three Broomsticks? We literally just-what the fuck-"

"Anything for a goddamned lead."

...

Terezi was unbuttoning her jacket when Karkat entered. He ran to help her.

"Karkat I have been blind since birth, you don't have to help me." Terezi felt his fingers fumbling at the buttons around her chest, trying like hell to not graze any part of her rumble spheres. He was colder than she was. Terezi reached back and held his hand still, scratching his palm lightly with her claws to calm his frazzled nerves.

"Were you two planning on a tryst before I got here?" Ampora strolled in.

“Why is he here?” Terezi demanded.

“Calm yourself, Terry.”

“Terezi. Pyrope.”

“Vriska Serket.” Vriska mournfully volunteered.

"You're the victim of sexual abuse." Eridan opened his notepad. "Tell me everything."

"Why...is he here?" Terezi gritted out.

"We need someone with access to Ravenclaw Tower, and Sollux was busy." Karkat whispered into her ear.

"Did you explain how important this was?"

"Aradia was indeed arrested."

"Told you." Vriska muttered.

"Look, have some tact, Ampora. We need to get into your common room to help her."

"Why Ravenclaw?"

"Slytherin means asking to get hexed, Gryffindor is full of teachers for the conference on final exams, and we have no Hufflepuff allies. Friends." Terezi told him.

"Fine. Ravenclaw tower."


End file.
